Hi once again everyone! This time, we're onto episode 14, The Trap.

Odd: It's a trap!

Odd, how the crap did you get in here?!

Odd: You left your door open.

...Well ok then.

Chapter 17: The Trap

It was another usual morning for me a Kadic. I woke up, despite my wishes to sleep in until about 10, and pulled my glasses back on my face. I pulled a marker out of one of my drawers and went over to my calendar, but what I saw amazed me. It was once again October, and it had been the exact day I had arrived at Kadic!

"Holy crap..." I breathed out, then I let out a laugh. "Been here a year and still in eighth grade. If I ever get a chance to tell my friends back home this, they'll sure get a kick outta this one." Had I been back in my world, I would've been a high school freshmen.

While I would've loved to sit there and reminisce about my old world, I snapped myself out of my daze and got ready for my first class. When I was ready, I went down to go meet the others for breakfast.

"Hey guys!" I greeted as I sat down. Jeremy sent a nod way, while Ulrich sent a wave. Odd was too busy devouring his food to offer anything at all, but that wasn't anything new. "Odd, I'd hate to imagine you in an all you can eat kind of place." Jeremy shuttered.

"Please, Emily. I'd rather not have nightmares tonight." He commented. Ulrich smirked.

"You think that's bad? I share a room with him. There's not much worse you can get than that." Odd paused his eating to glare at us.

"I'm right here you know!" He said with his mouth full.

"We know Odd, we know." The three of us started laughing while Odd just went back to eating. "So, am I the only one not ready for Ms. Meyer's test?" I then asked.

"Not ready? You? Please, knowing how you are, you'll say you did bad and get a 100%." Ulrich said. I gave him a sheepish look.

"I just really worry about my grades, that's all. Besides, math has never been my strong point, you know that."

"Either way, you'll do fine. Just don't rush and make sure you don't lose your place." Jeremy assured me.

"Thanks."

"Besides, we have to survive Ms. Hertz' class first. Now there's something that can give anyone nightmares." Odd said as he finished his tray. At that one, we all had to laugh, even Jeremy, the one who enjoyed science.

Ms. Meyer's Class

Science was pretty boring. A few people, which may include Odd and Sissi, got into a little bit of trouble, but that was the most exciting part.

In math, Odd was sitting next to Jeremy, while I was sitting next to Ulrich. Ms. Meyer walked by Jeremy, who was leaning back in his seat and tapping his pencil on his knee.

"Is something wrong, Jeremy? A problem?" She asked. The blond shook his head.

"No no. I finished ma'am." He replied, making most the people in the class surprised. They whispered to one another their amazement as Ms. Meyer picked up his test and looked over it.

"Why yes you have." She said with a nod. "Very good job, excellent work too." She praised him, making him smile. Noticing all the others in awe, she turned to face the rest of the class. "Alright now, keep working." Jeremy suddenly gasped.

"Oh no, her birthday is today!" He whispered just a little too loudly. Ms. Meyer thrned to look at him.

"You may go, Jeremy." Odd sent him a sharp look.

"Thanks a million." He said sarcastically. "You could've at least stayed to give me a hand."

"Aelita. I almost forgot that we met exactly a year ago today!" Jeremy whispered, ignoring Odd's whining. Noticing the teacher staring at him, Jeremy took that as his cue to leave. As she was watching him exit, Odd leaned over to Ulrich and whispered,

"Hey! It's Aelita's birthday today!" He told him. My eyes widened.

"Wow, I didn't even think about that!" I admitted. Ulrich nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I forgot all about it." Ulrich said. Sissi, having been sitting near us, looked over at Ulrich.

"What's going on?" She asked, as if she were a part of our group. Ulrich looked at her with an aggravated look.

"Mind your own business!" Was all he told her before returning to his work under the gaze of Ms. Meyer. From where I sat, I couldn't help but smirk when I hear Sissi let out a growl. Nothing else was said about the matter until math class was done. Ulrich, Odd, and I then all went over to the vending machines to meet with Jeremy. "Wow, it's already been a year since we met Aelita." Ulrich commented.

"Yeah, and since I showed up and you guys met me as well." I threw in. "But I'm still not sure why I was sent here. No clues, no nothing."

"And I still haven't managed to materialize Aelita." Jeremy said dejectedly. Ulrich took a sip of the drink he bought from the vending machine.

"I know, but we've still managed to protect Aelita from XANA." He pointed out. Odd then suddenly came up with an idea.

"Why don't we use our lunch hour to prepare a little surprise for her? She'd like that a lot, don't you think?" He suggested. Ulrich and I nodded. The plan was a sound one.

"Good idea." Ulrich agreed.

"Yeah, what do you think, Jeremy?" I asked. Jeremy perked up straight away, his materialization woes seeming to have disappeared from his head.

"Yeah! Let's go to the factory!" He said excitedly. Odd, Jeremy and I all started walking towards the boiler room.

"You coming?" I asked when Ulrich didn't follow. He made a motion with his hands that told is to go own.

"You three go own ahead. I promised Yumi that I'd stop by after class. We'll meet you there." He promised us. We went on ahead and into the sewers via the boiler room, and proceeded to the factory on out usual modes of transportation. Once we made it to the factory, we swung down.

"I'd love to find a nice present for Aelita." Jeremy told us. I grinned behind him. Oh, that boy was smitted for her.

"No problem. Why don't you program a digital birthday cake?" He suggested, unable to keep humor and laughter out of his voice as he spoke.

"Oh! I got an even better one! I'm sure she'd be happy if you admitted that you fell in love with her the second you turned the computer on!" I suggested, making Odd keel over with laughter. Jeremy's face turned red as he looked away from us.

"V-very funny." He said humorlessly. He hit the red button, but nothing happened. Odd stopped laughing when he realized that the elevator wasn't moving. Jeremy, while confused, trued the button a couple more times. It still wasn't working, however.

"Oh great, did this old thing finally die on us?" I asked, lightly hitting the old wood inside the elevator with my knuckles. Jeremy tried one last time, but again, the elevator didn't move.

"Maybe not. Maybe there was just a power cut. Let's go check out the fuses in the control room." Jeremy suggested. He led us towards the back of the factory, where a bunch of the old equipment was held.

"Wow." Odd said. "I had forgotten what this place looked like." He said as we walked by a few of the machines. "That's really cool." Jeremy scoffed.

"You're kidding. A hunk of junk if you ask me." I looked down at the conveyer belt.

"Sometimes I forget there's more than just the lab in here. You said you came here for spare robot parts a year ago, right?"

"Yeah, then I found the supercomputer and Aelita instead." Jeremy said with a nod.

"And the rest is history! Hard to believe we've been doing this for a year now." Odd commented.

Factory Bridge

Ulrich crawled out of the passage on the bridge first, then offered his hand to Yumi. She gladly took it, but the started running ahead of him. She flashed the brunette a happy grin.

"I'm gonna beat you to the elevator!" She exclaimed, and the race was on. Ulrich sent her a determined look back.

"We'll see!" He said confidently. The two swung down the ropes, though Yumi landed first. She made a mad dash for the elevator and touched the back of it. She let out a laugh.

"I won!" She cheered. Ulrich just grinned at her as he felt his hear racing from his running.

"That's nice. They sent it back down." Ulrich said.

"Odd and Emily must be in the scanners already." Yumi assumed with a nod. Ulrich hit the button which closed the door, but the door didn't close quick enough.

"Well well, nice little hiding place." A familiar yet annoying voice said. Sissi managed to slide into the elevator right as it was about to close. Ulrich and Yumi both gasped.

"What are you doing here!?" Ulrich asked. Sissi sent him a stern look.

"I should ask you that!" She retorted. "I wanna know, are Jeremy, Odd and Emily waiting or is this your own private love nest?" She asked.

"Sissi, that is none of you business!" Yumi exclaimed.

"Yeah, Yumi's right. So why don't you just leave?" Ulrich hit the button to open the door, but nothing happened. "Huh?" He tried again, but it still didn't work. He looked back at Yumi. "Something's wrong! It doesn't want to open!" Then, the elevator started moving down, something that it shouldn't have been doing. The two Lyoko Warriors looked around aprehensively. The elevator then made a sudden stop, catching all three passengers off guard. Sissi grabbed onto Ulrich in fright, but at that moment, no one seemed to care. Ulrich hit the buttn several more times, but it wouldn't move. "It won't start up." He reported to Yumi.

"But what's the matter?" She questioned. Ulrich shrugged.

"I dunno, it's blocked." Then, they heard a buzzing sound outside as the lights went out in the elevator. The elevator started shaking violently, making them all fearful for what was goingnto occur. The cables in the elevator finally snapped with the help of some electricity, sending the elevator and it's riders plummeting to the bottom. Sissi let out a fearful scream.

Control Room

Jeremy took another step up one of the stairs, but turned quickly. All that was behind us were the old machines. Maybe be heard something, but something we all heard as a loud crash. All three of us looke at each other.

"What was that!?" Jeremy asked.

"Better check it out!" Odd said, leading us to run down the stairs. We were about halfway through the room, the the conveyer belt suddenly kicked on.

"I thought this place hadn't worked in years!" I exclaimed. A few of the arm like machines started coming alive around us. Odd gritted his teeth.

"It's a trap!" He shouted. We backed up against a wall in fear. Odd looked ready to fight, though Jeremy and me looked more ready to flee in absoloite terror. Jeremy's phone started ringing in the middle of all this. He pulled it to answer.

"Yumi!? Are you alright?" There was a small break. "In the elevator? So that was the sound we heard. We're stuck in the machine room!"

"Careful!" Odd shouted, pushing the two of us out of the way. I looked up and saw one to the machines looming over me with it's metal 'claw'. Odd then approached and started whacking the thing with a piece of scrap metal. He kep hitting it, that is, until it'd had, then bent it right in front of him. It was still useable, but itnhad terrified Odd.

"We gotta get out of here!" Jeremy told us.

"No kidding, genius!" Odd shouted back. I then let out a shriek as one of the arms picked me up by my jacket hood.

"Emily!" Jeremy exclaimed, but was then knocked onto a convyer belt by another arm. Odd was yanked up as well and set on a belt I wasn't so lucky, as the arm insyead decided to leave me in the air and allow the other arms to poke at me from the air. I let out a scream when one of them managed to stab me in the side. I luckily managed to pull it out before it went too deep, but the damage was still done. Another then hit me on the head. I flinched when I saw another arm, this one with electricity. I turned my head in fear, but then I noticed that I was being held up by my jacket. Getting a bright idea, I unzipped it and found myself falling to the ground. I landed on my side and off of the conveyer belt, which didn't help my wound, but I managed to catch up to Odd and Jeremy. Odd winced as I approached.

"They got you, huh?" He asked. I nodded weakly.

"Yeah. At least my shirt was already red." I lightly joked.

"It's too bad this isn't Lyoko. At least we have superpowers there." Odd said.

"Yeah, and I wouldn't be bleeding."

"I'm pretty sure Aelita's also in danger, and she's going to need your guys help." Jeremy said as he caught his breath.

"But how do we reach the lab?"

"Via the boiler room." Odd nodded and pulled out his phone.

"Hello Odd. Are you alright? Where are you?" Yumi asked.

"Jeremy and I are ok, Emily got injured, but we're on our way to the lab. How are you doing?" He heard Yumi let out a sigh.

"Let's say I'm trying to cope." She answered. Odd the hung up as we entered the boiler.

"Oh, look at the boiler. XANA's really after us this time." Jeremy stated, looking at the steam emerging rapidly from said boiler.

"Yumi's on her way to the lab. She's climbing up the shaft." Odd told us, the looked at the boiler again. "I don't trust that thing. Ready for a 100 yard dash?"

"I'm better math than gym." Jeremy reminded him.

"Do I honestly look like I'm and Olympic Athlete?" I asked Odd sarcastically.

"Math isn'y going to help you this time, guys. Now, GO!" He shouted, and we all took off as fast as we could. I was lagging behind slightly, however, due to my injury. Though the boiler did explode while we were in the room, the debris missed us, and it only made me trip into the lab, though on my side, making me cringe.

Elevator

A droplet of water hit the top of the elevator, catching the attentions of both Ulrich and Sissi. She looked up in fear.

"What's that noise?" She asked. Ulrich honestly didn't know either.

"Oh, nothing." He said, deciding it would be better to not dwell on what wasn't killing them. Sissi tightened the makeshift bandage around the brunette's arm.

"There, that should be ok." She said, brushing her hand against Ulrich's cheek.

"Thanks. You're a real good nurse." Ulrich complimented.

"Ah, so I'm not just somebody who sticks to you like glue, huh?" She asked. If Ulrich was going to say anything in response, he was interrupted by water pooling at his and Sissi's feet. They both gasped and stood up, looking at one another. They were trapped in a watery prison.

Lab

"Odd? Jeremy? Emily?" Yumi called out, unable to see much thanks to steam in then lab. "Odd, Jeremy, Emily, please answer!" Her attention was captured by Jeremy coughing as he walked along with Odd. I was still on the floor in pain. "You're here! I was so scared!" Yumi said, then hugged Jeremy. I managed to pull myself up and stand up with the help of Odd.

"We pushed the boiler too hard; I guess it couldn't take it." He joked.

"What happened to you?" Yumi asked me.

"Machines picked me up by my jacket, stabbed me." I explained briefly. Jeremy went to sit down in his chair.

"Ok, here we go." He activated the scan to find the tower. "Aelita? Aelita, do you read me?" He asked into his headset. Yumi pulled out her phone to answer it.

"Hello? Oh, I understand, Ulrich. How's Sissi?"

"She's ok."

"Hang on. We're on our way to Lyoko." Yumi assured him.

"Ok, good luck." Ulrich said, then hung up. Jeremy looked at Yumi for an explanation.

"The water is riding, and Ulrich can't swim with a broken arm." Jeremy grimaced.

"And I can't contact Aelita." A screen suddenly popped up on the monitor. "Ok, I've got coordinates of the tower. Now I've gotta-"

"Jeremy!" Aelita interrupted him.

"Aelita, how are you? Are you ok?" He asked.

"I've been trying to contact you for such a long time." She said.

"We had a problem. XANA set a trap for us in the factory. Ulrich is in dangers, Emily's injured, and Odd, Yumi, and Emily are coming to Lyoko, we've gotta hurry." Jeremy said.

"I hate to possibly interrupt your monologue, but can we hurry this up? I'm kinda still loosing blood here." I reminded him from inside a scanner.

"Right. You should be ok on Lyoko." Jeremy said as he typed. "You're all off the the desert. Transfer, Yumi. Transfer, Odd. Transfer, Emily. Scanner, Yumi. Scanner, Odd. Scanner, Emily. VIRTUALIZATION!"

The three of us landed just fine with no problems. I was fine in my digital form, however, Jeremy sent us straight into the fray. We landed right the Krabs blocking the tower. Yumi sent one of her fans flying, just barely scrapping the eye on the Krab. Another one fired a few lasers at Odd, but the feline warrior jumped out of the way.

"Ya missed!" He taunted. I pulled out my staff and decided to go electric this time.

"Thunder Bolt!" I fired off a bolt of electricity from my weapon, just barely missing my target. Yumi looked back to find Aelita hiding behind a pile of rocks.

"Ok, Aelita, it's time. Ready?" She asked as Odd hopped up onto the rocks.

"Ok guys, we'll force our way through! You keep running behind us! We've gotta make it to the the tower, you understand?" Odd spoke quickly. The three of us all gave a sound of agreement as he was forced to dodge another laser. A third Krab approached from the side, evening things out.

"GO!" Yumi cried, and we all ran forward.

"Take that!" Odd shouted as he fired a few arrows. "And that!" He fired again, though this time was hit twice, once on his arm and another hit his torso.

"40 life points in two shots. Odd, you're loosing life points much too quickly!" Jeremy warned him.

"Don't worry, I'll make it!" Odd assured him. The Krabs fired several more times, each missing their shots. I charged up a Magic Blast and was about to let it fly, but the Kfab shot my staff out of my hand. The spell fizzled when the staff hit the ground.

"Watch out on your left!" Yumi warned me. A Krab was ready to take advantage my situation, but Odd managed to save the day by killing it. I picked up my staff and rolled back over to the others. Yumi was hit in the arm right before she threw her fan. Odd looked over at us as I came to defend them.

"Your point loos rate is too high, Odd!" Jeremy exclaimed, but it was too late he was hit in the leg. One of the Krabs picked me up by it's leg and threw me against the rock, costing me 15 life points. In my absence, another Krab managed to get a good shot in on Aelita. "Oh no! AELITA!" Jeremy shouted. Yumi jumped up and blocked another shot. "Aelita, 80. Emily, 85. Yumi, just 10." Jeremy reported to us. I managed to stand up with the support of the rock, and watched as Yumi took out the second Krab, while the other devirtualized Yumi.

"Oh no!" Aelita exclaimed, and stared up at the Krab fearfully. Letting out a loud yell, I ran forwards, and jumped into the air.

"Magic! Blast!" I exclaimed, and defeated the Krab with an accurate spell. I fell to the ground on my knees, then gave Aelita the thumbs up. "Now let's just hope we made it in time." I said.

"Return to the past, now!" Jeremy then exclaimed. Both the real world and Lyoko were filled with white.

Jeremy's Dorm

All five of us were gathered around Jeremy's computer with Aelita on screen. She gave us a confused look. Yumi smiled at us.

"Ok, now!" She said.

"Ok, ready Aelita?" Jeremy asked.

"What's going on? I don't understand."

"It's something from our world." Odd explained. We moved away a cloth in front of a cake we had been holding.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AELITA!" We all shouted happily. She looked completely shocked by this, but then she tilted her head in confusion.

"I don't get it." She admitted.

"We're celebrating because it's exactly one year ago that we met you." Jeremy explained.

"Oh, I see." She said with a nod. "And am I supposed to do something."

"Yeah! Save me a piece of cake!" Odd happily said.

"One track mind." Yumi said while rolling her eyes.

"Don't listen to that glutton." Jeremy said.

"Speak for yourself, four eyes."

"Hey! Don't diss the glasses!" I warned.

"Alright, calm down you guys." Yumi said. She passed out slices to us all, and even put on in front of the monitor for Aelita, even though she couldn't eat it. "Odd! You're eating all the cake!"

"I'm hungry!" Odd protested.

"So is everyone else!"

"Hand it over." Ulrich said. I just laughed, then put a little frosting on my nose, making the others laugh.

"I must keep my traditions alive!" I exclaimed.

"Even though you're almost 15?" Ulrich jokingly asked.

"Age is just a number. Besides, we all know I'm secretly five!" I put my hands to my head like they were antlers and wiggled my fingers.

"You're not getting a sugar rush, are you?" Jeremy asked, amused by my antics.

"Nope! Just the ADHD kicking in!" I then proceeded to gallop around the room, claiming I was a spastic moose, which even had Aelita laughing.

Well, this was shorter than I anticipated. I guess there wasn't a whole lot to work with.

Odd: They can't all be 6,000 words long y'know.

I know! Still, I'll try and get out Laughing Fit as soon as I can.